Backend Engineer (Scala)

About HR Tech department

Overview

We’re the creators of the award winning skill evaluation and training platform 'Track'. We are currently tackling the exciting mission of modernizing Japan's hiring culture and helping companies build and maintain strong engineering teams. Through this year and beyond we plan to expand our product lineup, enhance our UI/UX, roll out new microservices, and build new features which we hope you’ll be a big part in the planning and building.

 

Why we are looking for Backend engineer

Givery aims to provide the missing link that our clients need to scout, hire, and train world-class engineers. We are profitable, privately owned, and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Our clients include some of the biggest names in Japan. We have a diverse team from all corners of the world and we are looking for a skilled backend engineer to help us expand Track, a platform that helps companies train and evaluate technical skills.

 

The Attractiveness of the Position

Awesome tech!

One particular aspect that makes us proud of our team is the fact that we use modern technologies with development practices such as code reviews, continuous integration, unit tests, etc. Engineers feel welcome here.

 

Work-life balance

We encourages team members to have other activities and responsibilities in life, the average engineer works 40 hours a week. We have flex time, maternity/paternity leave, etc which is something a lot of our proud new parents really appreciate.

 

Choose where you work

We are set up for remote work, but you are more than welcome to come to our modern office in Shibuya, Tokyo.

 

International environment

We have people from all corners of the world working together to build the best products possible. Most Engineers use English day to day, but the perfect candidate will be able to navigate and negotiate our international work environment while making the transition towards an even more global team smooth for the local members too.

We are very proud of what Givery has become. The incredibly low turnover rate of our technology team proves that Givery fosters a work culture that is both very supportive and welcoming. We are sure, once you meet the team, you will feel it too!

 

Technology Stack

  • Serverside: Scala
  • Frontend: React, Typescript
  • Database: PostgreSQL (RDS)
  • Infrastructure: AWS(ALB, ECS, RDS, S3, Lambda), Docker, Redis, Terraform

 

Application Requirements

Must have

  • 3+ years of professional experience driving the backend work of a commercial product using a JVM-based language (Scala, Kotlin, Java) or a relevant modern programming language.
  • Experience building REST APIs running over distributed infrastructure
  • Strong interest in and practical application of basic functional programming concepts
  • Familiarity with non-blocking, asynchronous programming techniques (e.g. Futures, Akka/Actors, Typelevel/IO)
  • Experience working with relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, MySQL)
  • Understanding and experience writing and maintaining automated test suites (Integration tests, Unit tests, Property-based tests…)
  • Experience working with cloud service providers (AWS / GCP / Azure)
  • Business-level language skills in English


 
Nice-to-have

  • Expert-level fluency with Scala 2 and 3
  • Experience working with Node.js/NestJS, Go, and/or Rust
  • Experience working with React (and not allergic to frontend development tasks)
  • Spoken and written Japanese language ability

 

Work style

Weekly Meetings (usually averages to around 1 hour per day for an engineer):

  • 1 stand-up every morning lasting a maximum of 15 minutes
  • 2-3 hours worth of agile meetings (Sprint planning, backlog clarification, sprint retrospective, sprint review (we call this dogfooding)
  • Any other meeting relating to a project (usually 1 or 2 hours)

Technical Work (is up to the discretion of the engineer; we don’t dictate how they spend their time)

  • Programming and planning (technical documentation) is the majority of an engineer's time
  • People usually do peer reviews before or after lunch
  • Technical improvements depending on your team’s priority

 

Benefit

  • Health Insurance
  • Transportation allowance (up to 30,000 yen per month)
  • Family allowance (10,000 yen per month per dependent child up to age 18)
  • In-house bar, free drinks

 

Vacations

  • Two days off per week (Saturday and Sunday)
  • Japanese national holidays 
  • Paid holiday: 11–20 days per year, depending on years of service

 

Selection Process

1) Coding Test
2) Casual Chat
3) Team Interview1 (usually 2 rounds over 2 hours with people you’ll work with)
4) Team Interview2 (usually 2 rounds over 2 hours with people you’ll work with)
5) Offer!

*The order of 1 and 2 may change.

Back to blog

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...